 Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/5/2013(UTC)
Posts: 22
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Well I now have my first run under my belt, I dont know how successful though. I started the heat up at 11:30 Sunday morning. It took about 2 hrs before I got my first drops. I turned the cooling water on to the tower and waited about an hour before I started to collect. I collected in pint jars and only collect a half at a time. The temp at the head was around 172. I collected the first half pint and threw it away. I collected 2 more half pints and they both measured at 87%. The temp started to get up around 176-178 and this is where I believe I messed up because I think it was too hot. I collected 8 more 3/4 pints that all stayed at 87%. The next 3/4 pint measured at 81% and then the next one was 76% so I assumed I was on the tail end of the run. I smelled a weird smell and saw my temp was at 182 so I shut it down and collected the last bit to throw in the next run. The first 2 half pints smell sweet and taste good. The rest of them have a strong alcohol smell. I took jar 7 and 8 and mixed them, measured out around 75% and cut down to 50% with bottled water. It was still really strong with an alchol smell but it didnt get cloudy so I would assume that I didnt have tails in the mix? I let the rest sit for a day with a coffee filter over them to air out. When I got home Monday night I rinsed my activated carbon and put some in each glass trying to clean it up some. I think I still have a lot to learn
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 Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 515
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Originally Posted by: smurray316  Well I now have my first run under my belt, I dont know how successful though. I started the heat up at 11:30 Sunday morning. It took about 2 hrs before I got my first drops. I turned the cooling water on to the tower and waited about an hour before I started to collect. I collected in pint jars and only collect a half at a time. The temp at the head was around 172. I collected the first half pint and threw it away. I collected 2 more half pints and they both measured at 87%. The temp started to get up around 176-178 and this is where I believe I messed up because I think it was too hot. I collected 8 more 3/4 pints that all stayed at 87%. The next 3/4 pint measured at 81% and then the next one was 76% so I assumed I was on the tail end of the run. I smelled a weird smell and saw my temp was at 182 so I shut it down and collected the last bit to throw in the next run. The first 2 half pints smell sweet and taste good. The rest of them have a strong alcohol smell. I took jar 7 and 8 and mixed them, measured out around 75% and cut down to 50% with bottled water. It was still really strong with an alchol smell but it didnt get cloudy so I would assume that I didnt have tails in the mix? I let the rest sit for a day with a coffee filter over them to air out. When I got home Monday night I rinsed my activated carbon and put some in each glass trying to clean it up some. I think I still have a lot to learn Hi smurray, Not sure if you are running pot or reflux or what your wash size was. You should get about a quart (diluted to drinking proof) per gallon of wash. You should have started to get fores at around 152f-155f (tossing the first half pint should have caught the fores). In the 172f range you are into the good alcohol (with some heads). At 176f you'll start into the tails but might still get some useable hearts. AT 50% your spirit will have a stronger alcohol smell than commercial store bought 40% (I bottle mine at 55%). As long as it tastes good to you just bottle it up and let it sit. The longer it sits the better it tastes. If it harsh just run it thru a carbon filter 2 or 3 times (be sure to properly wash your carbon before use) and it will really clean it up. Hope this helps you out. Maddawgs
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Rank: Junior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 2/5/2013(UTC)
Posts: 22
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I am running the PSII HC with 5 rolls of copper mesh in the tower, thinking I may need more to break into the 90% range and using a propane burnner. I followed "yesterdays run" by Bushy as far as the wash went, used a total of 15 lbs of sugar (10-2.5-2.5) for a 6.5 gallon wash. I rinsed the carbon really well and added it to the pints I have, read somewhere that putting it in the alcohol and shaking them up for a couple days will help some, guess the next thing I buy will be a filter setup. I guess I'm still confused about some stuff. When I first start gettting something dripping is when I cut the water to the tower on (creating the reflux?) but some stuff still drips out....this is the first half pint I should throw away I take it? After an hour of holding in reflux I cut the water back to get a trickle and this should be the good stuff that I can drink?
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 515
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Originally Posted by: smurray316 I am running the PSII HC with 5 rolls of copper mesh in the tower, thinking I may need more to break into the 90% range and using a propane burnner. I followed "yesterdays run" by Bushy as far as the wash went, used a total of 15 lbs of sugar (10-2.5-2.5) for a 6.5 gallon wash. I rinsed the carbon really well and added it to the pints I have, read somewhere that putting it in the alcohol and shaking them up for a couple days will help some, guess the next thing I buy will be a filter setup. I guess I'm still confused about some stuff. When I first start gettting something dripping is when I cut the water to the tower on (creating the reflux?) but some stuff still drips out....this is the first half pint I should throw away I take it? After an hour of holding in reflux I cut the water back to get a trickle and this should be the good stuff that I can drink? Hi smurray, I have the same set up and did the same wash as my first run. The only differences were that I use internal heating elements and I did 12 gallons instead of 6. Here is a link to my thread http://www.brewhausforum...d.php?3221-My-First-Run. In it I try to give a detailed description of what I did and the results I got. Hope it helps anwer some of your questions. I have heard mixed reviews about adding carbon to your alcohol and I chose to go with running the alcohol thru a filter system as it gives consitantly good results. Hope this helps you out. Maddawgs
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Rank: Senior Member Groups: Registered
Joined: 9/14/2012(UTC)
Posts: 515
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Originally Posted by: smurray316 I am running the PSII HC with 5 rolls of copper mesh in the tower, thinking I may need more to break into the 90% range and using a propane burnner. I followed "yesterdays run" by Bushy as far as the wash went, used a total of 15 lbs of sugar (10-2.5-2.5) for a 6.5 gallon wash. I rinsed the carbon really well and added it to the pints I have, read somewhere that putting it in the alcohol and shaking them up for a couple days will help some, guess the next thing I buy will be a filter setup. I guess I'm still confused about some stuff. When I first start gettting something dripping is when I cut the water to the tower on (creating the reflux?) but some stuff still drips out....this is the first half pint I should throw away I take it? After an hour of holding in reflux I cut the water back to get a trickle and this should be the good stuff that I can drink? Hi smurray, Here is a link to my thread on the brewhaus basic carbon filtering system if you choose to go that way. It is I think 30 bucks and does work pretty good. http://www.brewhausforum...haus-basic-filter-system Maddawgs
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